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'The birds have all been ''decorated'' with tinsel, ribbons, bits of wire decoration and rings,' she said.

'The birds are often unable to move naturally with these decorations and they are preventing them from flying, eating and drinking.'

SPCA central region general manager Ros Alsford said the sparrows become severely stressed as they try and remove the decorations, and get themselves further entangled as they attempt to get the tinsel off their bodies.

In once case a bird was 'severely underweight due to starvation', she told Stuff.

Barely-alive sparrows brought in to the SPCA had to be euthanised as they were in such poor health

'The tinsel was wrapped so tight it cut the circulation off around its wing,' she said.

Ms Alsford told the New Zealand Herald that they weren't sure if the person responsible was being cruel on purpose.

'Obviously, some is doing it intentionally because it's not natural behaviour for birds to have like this,' she said.

'It seems to be only sparrows, it's most odd and unusual. It's something we're concerned and worried about.'